


Is it worth it? (Let me work it)

by macncheesey



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: :), Art Student Zayn, Bottom Louis, F/F, Harry gigs for money, Harry is endeared all the time, Harry is nude, Harry is the lead singer of a band with sarah josette and naomi, I kinda made my own version of White Eskimo using Harry's drummer and MUNA? sorry?, Insecure Louis, It's heavily implied that ziam is a thing, Katie Gavin/Naomi McPherson, Kinda, Liam and Harry go to the same gym so they're kinda buddies, Liam is just kinda there but we love him, Louis as we know him; loud funny and charismatic, Louis babysits, Louis fingers himself in the shower and that's all you need to know about that, Louis sees Harry's dick before they even say anything to each other, M/M, Meet-weird? like a meet cute but it's weird., Music, Niall Horan & Louis Tomlinson Friendship, Niall is Harry's roomate, Niall is Niall, Niall is a good roommate but also Niall is a bad roomate, Singer Harry, Singer Louis, Smut, TA Niall, Top Harry, a little bit, also the f/f is minor background like it's just, and tbh it's mostly just them getting off by themselves while thinking about the other, but it isn't porn without plot, following your dreams or some gay shit like that, heavy sexual tension later on, instant friendship, it's part of the story just read, it's weird - Freeform, just sayin, liam works as a personal trainer but that isn't really important, maybe they'll switch at some point idk, they aren't famous though, until they actually get together that is, yeah - Freeform, you don't have to know anything about MUNA seriously they're just kinda filler characters, zayn is louis' roommate and best friend, zayn works at an art museum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-03-28 02:52:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13894674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macncheesey/pseuds/macncheesey
Summary: As Harry finally got dressed, he let the events of the morning sink in. The clock read 10:24 am and so far Harry had woken up at a blasphemous hour, wielded a scalding hot cup of tea as a weapon to a stranger in his shared flat, flashed said gorgeous stranger with his naked body, broken his favorite mug, crashed down- still naked, mind you- onto gorgeous stranger, effectively covering them both in hot tea, and given his roomate Niall an eyeful as well as a few wrong ideas. If his life was going to be like this all the time now that Louis’ in it, well, it’s safe to say that Harry’s going to need a nap.Or: The one where Harry meets Louis, the ex-lead singer of The Rogue, his favorite small local band- when they were still together, that is- and Louis meets Harry, the ex-twink lead singer of White Eskimo, the band that beat Louis out at The Battle of the Bands six years ago.





	1. Meet-Weird

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stupid and I've had Missy Elliot stuck in my head all day so that explains the title. It also kind of fits, so I figured I'd just slap it on. This is my first Harry/Louis work, and my first published work on this account, so it's a little new to me. I honestly crave any type of feedback, even if it's ridiculously negative, because I want to know what people think. I'm not one to take it too personally, so don't worry.  
> This is either going to be a one shot or a short story, maybe with 3-6 chapters, because I'm an indecisive bitch. It's pretty open ended right now, but I do have like, an entire plot worked out, so if this is something you want me to expand upon, let me know.  
> I just want to clarify (in case the tags/summary didn't) that nobody is famous/on the brink of fame in this fic, everyone is just in uni having a good time playing music, and by everyone, I mean Harry, Louis, Naomi, Sarah, and Josette, so basically everyone, yeah. You really don't have to know anything about MUNA or the members to read this, but if you want a basic explanation, I've left one in the notes at the end.

It was a normal morning for Harry, if you could call it a morning, that is. Whether or not the ungodly hours that Harry gets up at could be considered “morning time” is actually a common topic of debate between Harry and his roommate, Niall, who firmly believes that nobody should be awake before the clock hits double digits. That's besides the point right now, though. The point is that it was a normal morning for Harry, emphasis on the “was”. His alarm clock woke him up at 5:30, he took a quick shower, wanked off, thoroughly washed and conditioned his long hair, and threw on his floral silk robe (wide open so he could catch the morning breeze in all the right places) before heading into the kitchen to start his morning tea. 

There he was, stirring the sugar into his mint medley blend, when a cough sounded off behind him. Harry, knowing full well that it wasn’t Niall, swung around with his mug brandished in hand and his repulsive flaccid dick flopping about in plain sight. Alright, maybe repulsive wasn't the best word for it, he's certainly never heard complaints before, but he would've at least liked some time for man grooming before having his penis thrown under scrutiny by such a beautiful man at such short notice. 

“Are you okay?”

Obviously, he was not. As if the intruder couldn't tell that by the way Harry’s mug clattered loudly against the floor as his hands flew to cover his cock. This stranger sure is lucky that he's so damn pretty, because his deduction skills don't seem to be much to write home about.

“Yeah, yeah, good morning. Who the hell are you and why are you in my home?” That should cover just about everything. Speaking of covering things, Harry really ought to find something to tie his robe with. Judging by the way this blue-eyed man is repeatedly looking down below the exposed laurel tattoos and back up at the kitchen clock with a blush on his face, Harry figures that his hands probably aren't doing that well of a job alone. 

“I’m Louis, Niall’s mate. He invited me over after the game last night because my roommate's got a date over and I stayed the night on the couch. Sorry, I smelled tea and thought you were Nialler so I came. I mean, like-” Louis scoffs and runs a hand through his messy hair, growing rapidly more and more red in the face, “not coming like cumming coming, I meant coming like, I brought my body over here because i get really thirsty in the middle of the night and then I saw you and now I’m even more thirsty and- not- no! Not like that. I mean just like I’ve been talking a lot because that's what I do when I get nervous sometimes and now my throat is really dry and I’d love to have some D. Tea. I’d love to have some tea, for my thirst.” 

The kitchen was silent for a good few seconds as Harry digested everything said to him. 

“How about this. How about you give me something to tie my robe with, and I’ll make you some tea, and we can forget all about this and start over. Does that sound good?” Harry asks, and Louis nods in response along with saying “Here, you can have my belt.”

Just their luck, too, because right as Louis starts to frantically unbuckle and remove his belt, Niall walks in with a shocked look on his face and a biscuit in his hand.

“Wow! Looks to me as if you two have already met. Damn, and I was so looking forward to the introduction.”

Louis whipped his body around so fast that his sock clad feet betrayed him and he fell backwards, landing ass first onto the floor beside the broken (but not shattered) ceramic mug. Harry, immediately forgetting his current state of undress at the sound of pain emitted from precious Louis’ mouth, rushed around to help Louis up. Apparently God hates Harry, because just as he links hands with the delicate creature and pulls, his bare feet slip on the scalding hot spilt tea, and he tumbles down on top of Louis.

What a sight they are. Two grown men tangled in a heap on the floor. The one on top, who is noticeably larger, stronger, and naked-er than the blue eyed man, has a look of utter mortification on his face, while the smaller, more petite man just looks as if he's being crushed to death. Niall’s laughter echoes off of the kitchen walls and makes the situation somehow impossibly worse as Harry struggles to his feet, robe flying about and covered in tea. During Harry’s struggle, Niall makes his way over to the boys and helps a shocked Louis up. 

Louis, once firmly on his feet, wordlessly shoves his belt out to Harry. The taller of the two takes it with gratitude evident on his face and efficiently covers himself from the two sets of prying eyes. “Right, how about some tea? There's still some left in the kettle, I think.”

“None for me, thanks. I’m actually awake for a reason right now, Ian’s got a reservation for us at Rip Surlington’s. We’re gonna catch up and all that, I’m excited, it's been a while. Lou, you can stay here for as long as you'd like, I figure Zayn’s still got his date over and I can't imagine you'd want to be a part of that funky business.” While talking, Niall moves around the room in a more energetic fashion than either of the two flushed boys have ever seen him move this early in the morning. 

The silence after the slam of the door behind Niall stretches on for an almost uncomfortable amount of time. Just as Louis’ about to excuse himself, Harry speaks up from his position at the counter, back turned and head down. “Hmm. Yeah, I was right,” Harry turns to look at Louis with a small smile on his face, “There’s just enough for about two more cups. You in?”

-

The two find themselves deep in conversation a half an hour later, sprawled across the pull-out sofa that Louis had slept on last night, discarded mugs filled with just the last dregs of cold tea and backwash sitting on the hardwood floor beside them. Harry, still in just a robe, has chosen to place a throw pillow between his open legs in order to not scar his guest more than necessary. Louis, still trying his hardest not to daydream about what he knows lies beneath the striped cushion, is curled in the corner of the couch with his legs crossed at the ankle and bent at the knee. 

“Damn! Wait, so you're trying to tell me that you had a band in high school that performed at the Battle of the Bands in 2008?” Louis only nodded in response, small smirk gracing his face. “The one in Leeds? Are you fucking kidding me? I performed there too!” At this, Louis’ eyes widened.

“Seriously? What was your name? I might remember you!” 

“White Eskimo! I was the lead singer.”

A look of disbelief passes over Louis’ face before he lets out a loud laugh. 

“You were the- hold on, I’m gonna need a second to digest this.” Louis laughs, hands clutching at the blanket beneath him. “I remember your band, first of all, you were excellent, and you totally deserved that win. What I can't wrap my head around is how you, big-dicked tattooed muscley long-haired Harry, are the same Harry as the little curly haired twink that I saw sing at Leeds just 6 years ago. Christ, I’m shaken to the core right now.” The small living room is filled with the sound of Louis’ wild laughter, interrupted only a few moments later by the younger man.

“Big-dicked?” Harry says with a smug grin. At this, Louis rolls his eyes and retorts, “So that's what you took from my speech, huh? Classy. You were a twink, Harry! A full blown curly little twink! You even put me to shame, don't lie. What changed?” 

Harry huffed out a laugh and thought for a few moments before saying “I lost my virginity to this guy a few months after the battle of the bands and he insisted that I top, and I did, and then I was like ‘Hey, that's pretty good’. Six years and a well used gym membership later, here we are.”

“That's so fucking funny. I do remember you apart from that, though. You have a phenomenal voice. Do you still sing?” In response to the praise, Harry’s eyes light up and he slips out a quiet thank you before saying, “Yeah, I still sing, but my voice is a tad different now, what with puberty and all. I’ve started to play guitar too.”

“Thank God for puberty.” Louis mutters out under his breath, glancing up and down Harry’s body. He’s met with a genuinely confused look and a “Sorry, what was that?” from Harry, to which he replies “Don't worry about it, love.”

“What about you? You never told me what band you performed in.” 

Louis’ response is hesitant. “I was, uh, the lead singer for The Rogue. You probably don't remember us.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “The Rogue? I was your biggest fan! Oh my god, after that Battle of the Bands I tracked you guys and went to almost all of your gigs, until you guys broke up. Why did you break up, again?”

Louis answered with a look of disbelief. “Um, we broke up because we couldn't see a future for us like that, we just weren't very good. I wasn't very good, I guess.” Louis looked up only to see Harry staring right back, offended.

“Like hell you aren't good! Your voice is so unique and captivating! Fuck, did anyone tell you that you can't sing? That's bullshit. Utter bullshit. Please tell me you still sing.” Pleading green eyes meet blue, and Louis can't find it in himself to let the younger boy down.

“I mostly play piano now, but I do love singing every now and then. I'm guessing by the look on your face that I’m going to start singing more often, huh?” Harry nodded frantically.

“Yep, and you don't have a choice about it. How could you even dream of depriving the world from your voice? How could you dream of depriving ME from your voice? I feel betrayed.”

Louis’ laughs echoed through the dimly lit living room, cut off by an alarm from his phone. “Oh shit, is it seriously 10 already? We just spent-” Louis paused as he counted with his fingers- “four hours talking! How is that possible? It felt like nothing!” Louis was standing up and gathering his things as he spoke, and his haste only managed to pull a confused look onto Harry’s face.

“What’s up? Do you have somewhere to be?”

Louis flinched as he struggled to put on his left shoe. “Yeah, I need to pick up my sister from a sleepover and drop her off at dance practice. The tribulations of being an older brother, I suppose.” Harry nodded in familiarity as if he hadn’t just learned about Louis’ large family, nay, Louis’ existence itself, only a few hours ago.

“Alright, cool, do you need a ride, or…” Harry stood awkwardly as Louis ambled towards the door, finally ready to take on the world despite his unorthodox start to the day. Louis met Harry’s concerned green eyes with a blank stare.

“Harold. You didn’t really expect me to come over to a mate’s house full well knowing that I had to drive somewhere tomorrow and not bring me car. Who do you think I am, honestly?” Harry laughed at this response, only slightly disappointed that Louis’ preplanning meant less time spent together for them. 

“Alright, drive safely, bye-” and then, before Harry could even finish his farewell, the door shut in his face. Either Louis was really in a hurry, or he had been hiding a ridiculously rude side from Harry for the four-or-so hours they had known each other. The answer to Harry’s internal debate was answered when the door, having just been closed a few moments ago, opened by the same hand which had just touched it. 

“Sorry, I’m really in a hurry right now, so I like reeeally need to get going, but I just realized I didn’t get your number, and, well, that’s a tragedy, so here.” A phone was suddenly shoved into Harry’s face, and he made quick work of entering his number as “Harry with the big dick” and closing it with a mischievous grin before Louis could notice.

“Bye! Talk to you later!” Harry kept his goodbye short this time in fear of being cut off, and Louis returned the sentiment before dashing out of the apartment once more. 

As Harry finally got dressed, he let the events of the morning sink in. The clock read 10:24 am and so far Harry had woken up at a blasphemous hour, wielded a scalding hot cup of tea as a weapon to a stranger in his shared flat, flashed said gorgeous stranger with his naked body, broken his favorite mug, crashed down- still naked, mind you- onto gorgeous stranger, effectively covering them both in hot tea, and given his roomate Niall an eyeful as well as a few wrong ideas. If his life was going to be like this all the time now that Louis’ in it, well, it’s safe to say that Harry’s going to need a nap.


	2. Fruit Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's smut in this one, so if that isn't your jam, then watch out. Other than that, it's pretty simple. Zayn talks about fruit trees.

The sound of keys the door opening and keys jangling snap Zayn out of his art-induced haze. Looking up from the selections of paintings before him, Zayn sees Louis enter their shared flat with his overnight bag over his shoulders.

“Hey Lou. How was the game?” Zayn says, his attention already shifting back to the artwork laying on their living room carpet. Louis shrugs off his coat and flops down onto the couch behind Zayn.

“Alright. The Rovers lost to ManU, and I’m not sure if I’m happy for Manchester or sad for Donny. It’s not that important, though.” Zayn rolls his eyes at that, knowing full well that he’s going to get an earful about every last detail of the game (and the hot players) in the middle of the night when Louis can’t sleep. “How was your date? I can see you’re sitting on your I-just-got-fucked bean bag, so I’m assuming it went well?”

Zayn scoffed and turned around to see Louis smirking on the couch. “How do you know this is my- well, whatever you just said bean bag? Maybe I just like a comfortable seat, you don’t know. Get your head out my business, man.”

“Oh please, you’d be sitting right on our carpet if your arse wasn’t so sore from last night. Don’t play those games with me, Malik.” Trying to change the subject, Zayn redirects the focus onto Louis, saying “Whatever. How was last night with Niall, though? It was your first night at his place, innit? D’you meet his roomie?”

As if by magic, Louis’ phone dinged with a text message from ‘Harry with the big dick’. Louis, only just now seeing the contact name Harry had entered for himself, groans and throws his head back against the back of his couch with a smile.

“Who’s it fro-” Zayn doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before Louis shushes him and unlocks his phone.

Harry with the big dick: Get home okay? You weren’t snatched up by some cougar at your sister’s dance practice, were you?

Louis laughed quickly to himself before typing out an answer.

Louis: I can’t believe you. Dumbass.

At this point, Zayn had lifted himself onto the couch and was looking over Louis’ shoulder at his phone screen.

“Harry with the big dick, aye? You wanna borrow my freshly-fucked bean bag, Lou?”

Louis jumped a bit, not having noticed Zayn’s journey up the couch. He turned to his flatmate and dismissed him with a wave of the hand. “Nothing happened, Zaynie. I wasn’t even the one who picked the contact name, he was.”

Another text came in from Harry, asking what Louis could possibly be talking about. Louis can just see Harry smirking meaningfully down at his phone from the sofa they spent the morning on.

Louis: I’m changing your contact name to Harry the big dickhead, loser.

Harry the cute dickhead: Ah, you wound me with your words. I’m truly upset right now.

Harry the cute dickhead: You could make it up to me tomorrow? Dinner and a show, maybe?

“Damn, this guy moves fast.” Once again, having forgotten that Zayn was witnessing their entire conversation, Louis jumped a bit in his seat.

“Jesus, Zayn. Give a guy some warning. And he’s not moving fast, he’s not moving at all. This isn’t a date, it’s just two guys, bros if you will, going out for dinner, doing bro things. Bro things, like going to see a show and then walking through the park and maybe holding hands and fucking a little bit.”

Zayn burst into laughter at this. “How do- oh my god. How do you fuck someone, but just a little bit? Louis what the hell.” Louis shushed him again, and Zayn, tired of being ignored in favor of “Harry with the big dick”, slid back down to his bean bag and continued evaluating the three paintings in front of him as Louis began to type on his phone.

Louis: Let me check my schedule. Hmm, yeah, I could probably fit it in. Pick me up at 6?

Harry the cute dickhead: Sounds absolutely perfect to me. See you then!!!!!!!!

Louis shut off his phone with a smile and stood up to finally take a shower. Before he could escape the room, though, Zayn grabbed his ankle.

“Lou, before you go, could you help me figure which of these paintings should showcase the new gallery at the museum? I was thinking the one in the middle, because of its extravagant use of the color red on a subject so melancholy and bleak, but the one on the right is kind of speaking to me too. I feel like it’s a call for help, you know? I feel like it’s saying ‘Save me from the machine of corporate America’, which is fitting, because we’re doing a display of American artists this quarter. What do you think?

Louis wordlessly stares down at the paintings for a few seconds before finally breaking. “Zayn. Honey. These are oil paintings of fruit trees. What the fuck are you on about.”

Zayn huffs out in annoyance. “Clearly you just can’t see the deeper meaning in post-modern commentary art.”

Silence.

“Riight. I’m going to shower now.”

Louis leaves the room unnoticed by his companion, and Zayn, still staring thoughtfully at the paintings, comes to a conclusion.

“Huh, you’re right. I think I’m gonna go with the one on the right. Thanks Lou!”

-

Louis realizes now that he probably should’ve taken a cold shower.

The hot water falling over his back does nothing to help get rid of the image he’s been trying to ward off all day, considering the fact that it would be extremely inappropriate to pop a boner during his sister’s middle school dance rehearsal. The aforementioned image is similar to the one he got of naked Harry this morning, but it’s a bit different. The differences involve a stark lack of clothes on Louis side and Harry’s gorgeous pink tongue doing things that no good Christian mother would want to hear about. The guilt of wanking to a man he’d just met was strong, but it was in no way stronger than the pool of lust he’d been storing in his belly for the past, what,  
seven hours. Who would it hurt if Louis allowed himself to have a bit of fun in the shower?

His hand was already trailing down his hairless tummy, and it took a second to realize that he wasn’t even touching himself yet. Fuck, if just the thought of Harry rimming him could make him feel this good, he wonders how the real deal is. The thought of Harry’s tongue working vigorously between his cheeks inspired him to slowly slip his fingers down behind his back. Without any lube, Louis was only prepared to use one finger with the help of the moisture of his shower, but he would take whatever he could get at this point.

Louis could only imagine how it felt to sit on Harry’s lap, Harry’s exposed length sliding between Louis’ asscheeks as Louis ground down onto him, sucking his neck and running his hands down Harry’s chest. God, that chest. Louis slips a finger inside, biting his lip and trying to fool himself into believing that it was the ringed finger of his new friend. He wonders what sounds Harry would make. Would they be as low and husky as his voice, or would they be soft and breathy, like Louis had knocked the wind out of him?

Right when his small hand wrapped around his cock to stroke himself to the rhythm of the finger behind him, his phone dinged with a message from none other than Harry. Harry, who could be in the shower with Louis right now. Harry, who could be on his knees, bending Louis over onto the shower wall and dribbling spit and lube down Louis’ inner thigh. Louis’ hand sped up. Harry, whose thick cock would fit perfectly into Louis’ hand, into his mouth, rubbing on his swollen lips and pushing in ever so gently and-

Ding!

Right, his phone.

Louis groaned and took his hand off of his now-throbbing dick in order to dry it off and grab his phone. In a split-second decision he decided that taking his finger out of his ass wasn’t worth it, Harry probably just wanted to confirm the details about their not-date tomorrow, and Louis could do that with one hand. Probably.

Harry the cute dickhead: Are you busy right now?

Harry the cute dickhead: I’m gonna call you real fast, don’t freak out.

Louis was definitely freaking out.

The ringing of his phone filled the near-silent shower and Louis, without really thinking it through, hit the accept button on his phone. Shit.

“Hey Louis, so, I was just calling because-” Harry’s deep voice cut out, making Louis whine a bit, wanting Harry to narrate his wank session. He should really stop moving his finger inside of himself, but in all honesty, just knowing that Harry was on the line with him made him want to slip another finger in. Fuck, he’s doing it. Oh god, why did he think this was a good idea?

“Are you- are you in the shower? Lou?” Harry asked, making Louis realize that the sound of the showerhead behind him was probably very noticeable on the other side of the phone.

“Uhh, um,” Louis cleared his throat to rid himself of the whiny tone he was using. “Uh, yeah, you caught me! Just washing up after a long day.” Louis’ fingers spread out inside of him as he imagined the owner of the voice talking to him naked, not that he really had to imagine that hard. Fuck, this morning really was wild.

The breathing coming from Harry’s side got heavier, and Louis was worried that Harry had caught him. Instead of calling him out, Harry just changed the subject to their planned outing.

“I was just calling because I wanted to fill you in on the plan for tomorrow.” Had Harry’s voice gotten deeper? It sounded deeper.

“Oh- Okay. Yeah.” At this point, Louis had put his phone on speaker and set it on his soap shelf on the wall. His free hand was being used to muffle the moans threatening to break loose.

“The show we’re going to is actually my show. White Eskimo’s going to play at 17 Black tonight, and I wanted you to meet my mates, if that’s okay.” Louis nodded before realizing that Harry couldn’t see him, thank God. After his realization he let out a feeble “Yeah.” and continued to work himself towards his finish, which evidently wasn’t going to take very long with the help of a certain cute dickhead. Harry only continued on, as if he knew what events were happening in Louis’ shower and wanted to tease him for it.

“I just, Louis, I’d just really like you to come for me. Can you do that? Come for me? To my show, I mean?”

“Oh.” Louis quickly hung up and shoved his forehead onto the shower wall, his orgasm working over him in waves. He cleaned himself up and shut the shower off, grabbing his phone and sitting down on the floor of the shower, feeling absolutely spent.

Louis: Sorry, I dropped my phone.

Louis: That sounds great, though. I’d love to see you play again!

Harry the cute dickhead: I can’t wait to play with you tomorrow night either.

Harry the cute dickhead: With you there, I mean. Can’t wait to play with you there! See you soon.

Louis was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, leave comments with feedback if you can. I'm debating on whether or not I should turn this into a quick little story with three chapters, or extend it out to six to add some extra fun. Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope to continue this, and if I do, I hope for you to continue reading! Kudos and comments mean a lot to me, especially since I'm just starting out.  
> Now onto the MUNA thing. in real life, Katie is the singer while Josette and Naomi play guitar, but for the sake of my story, MUNA does not exist and Katie is pursuing a solo career while Josette and Naomi are in White Eskimo, Josette playing guitar and Naomi playing bass. Sarah Jones is actually Harry's drummer in real life, so her role carries on into my fic. Harry is the lead singer who also plays a little guitar, and Louis' role in the music scene will be explained throughout time. I don't really want to give anything away yet, not that it would be a massive spoiler or anything, but still.  
> Yeah, I think that's it. Again, thank you so much for wasting your time on my story! I love everyone, probably! Maybe! I'm just a person who is full of love and confusion! Much love for you all!!


End file.
